Hi-am traveling for 27 nights, Sept/Oct. Have been using travel agent to plan and book, but get the sense that using an agent is costlier than booking direct. Found tremendous disparity when checking flights within Australia. What's been your experience?

Actually, my experience has been the opposite. I have found, contrary to the beliefs of my friends that travel agents meet or beat lowest airfares, unless they work with corporations in which case they book higher corporate and business fares. I have actually challenged some friends to find lower fares when they said they could -- they couldn't. You need to tell the travel agent that you want the lowest fare.
That said, there is one very cheap airline that flies from LA to Australia for about $450., that my agent refused to book because she said it was very uncomfortable. Following an internet search, I found that the bloggers agreed with her (cant quite recall the name now).
I am booked first class for $4500 including cancellation insurance Florida to Australia roundtrip.
Quantas first class airfare was $16,000 LA to Australia if I booked myself. Not that I would have -- thats about my entire vacation fund. I'm pretty certain my travel agent could get a coach fare under $1500 roundtrip.
You also need an experienced travel agent, one who deals with Australia on a regular basis. I found my agent on Australia.com and she is based in Hawaii.
The problem with agents is if they find you a cheap flight, you need to let them book your hotels because thats how they make their money --- and thats often where they mess up. So after my travel agent books, I followup with EVERY hotel, to make sure I am booked correctly (I have been booked in wrong hotels 3 hours away from where I needed to be -- not by this agent but previously) However, with few exceptions, she also gets better hotel rates than I can, sometimes a 50% cut from what they say on the internet. My travel agent also wants to book my tours, and monitoring her to make certain I get the right tours is also more difficult than doing it myself.
So my personal findings: Going with a good travel agent can be much cheaper than doing itself -- but actually more difficult.

Regarding my recommendations for dinner in Hobart - I do NOT suggest restaurants because someone has given them 4 stars or 5 stars or a great write up, I recommend them because they are either good value or good food or both. If you are after fine dining then scrap my suggestions altogether because I make my own great food I most certainly don't buy it. I eat out mostly for a social occasion or because I want a rest from cooking I couldn't care less if a place is low key or not.

Meant no harm Lizzyf. What I meant by "Low-key" was that I actually couldnt find it on any Hobart restaurant list. The one place I found it was in a talk forum where someone was talking about their Hobart experience, and it sounded like they grabbed a "scallop pie" to go. So I just wanted more info on it?

I know you didn't mean any harm skai and I didn't mean to sound like I thought you did. Both Fish Frenzy and Harbour Lights are low key places & where the locals eat, if you like to put it that way, because it tastes good and you can go in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt if you like. Prices are good and so is the food - at least I think it is. You eat upstairs at Harbour Lights in the restaurant or you can just grab a scallop pie BUT having said that - the bakery at Richmond has the absolute BEST scallop pies in the entire state.

Lizzie, I think that Pie Shop in Richmond makes the best pies in the entire Country! I remember sitting there with my Mum, savouring a rich beef & mushroom pie in the sun one late April morning.

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Is scallop pie and beef & mushroom pie like chicken-pot pie or like pizza topped with these things? And how far is this bakery in Richmond from the Henry Jones? And at the risk of further annoying oliverandharry, can I take a cab?

Richmond takes about 1/4 hr driving from Hobart and it is one of the places that you should not miss on your trip anyway because it is a lovely Georgian, convict build village with a bakery which has some of the best pies in the country - if not the best!!!!!!
Their scallop pie is made with the scallops poached in a lovely creamy sauce and put into a flaky pastry case and with a flaky pastry top to it which is then baked in the oven till light, crusty and brown. I actually have the Richmond Bakery's recipe for their scallop pies (but it is for 56 pies and so needs careful calculations to make for one pie). I am not 100% sure what a chicken pot pie is so cannot comment on the comparison.

mmmm -can't wait. Um -did you give me the name of the bakery? ps - a chicken pot pie is similar and is usually made with chicken, carrots, peas and potatos and a sauce. In the US - except for chicken, we don't bake meat or seafood into pies. (Don't know why -- maybe the colonists stopped eating this to distance themselves from England.)

It's a village, SkaiSW.
You will be able to find the pie shop. Follow your nose. Trust me.

Liz introduced me to the Richmond Bakery a year ago, I think I went back about 6 times for the scallop pies. Had them elsewhere in Tasmania, but nothing came near the Richmond delights.

Also ate in the pub at Richmond which is a lovely old building and there's a small Italian place just down the road. Just pizzas and pasta dishes, but they really know how to do it.

Is the Richmond Bakery really easy to find once you get to Richmond?

Having trouble finding an address.
(Believe it or not--I've had it penciled into our itinerary for a couple of years (I think from this forum!)--just never tried get all the info until now (yes--I plan WAY ahead--but, we're finally coming in September!!!).

Caligirl: Yes. Richmond's a little village. About a dozen streets. The bakery is just off the main street (Richmond Road). Near the old gaol.

Chicken pot pies in the US are a main dish meal that come on a plate and are eaten with a fork. Scallop pies in Tasmania come in a waxed paper envelope and you eat them by hand. I also like the ones made with curry by the piestand in Salamanca on Saturdays.

Hi-wrote you earlier re using travel agent. Am using miles for business class trip from LA. Just reserved internal flights by calling Quantas, for one third the cost of what agent proposed. Am using hotels she proposed, but the cost is comparable to that on internet. It was worth paying upfront fee for itinerary, including specific flights. I too, feel like i have to review every single booking, and have to nudge re getting details.

What kind of insurance did you get, where are you staying in Sydney, and what is the Dracula Caberet?

Would love to hear from you. My trip is in our fall.

FoxFL
I just dug out my actual insurance policy. It is AIG travel guard
As I understand it, the insurance covers all airfare in case I have to cancel for medical reasons and other stuff such as lost baggage and travel documents. I think --- looks like it also covers any ER medical problems that occur while in Australia (I didnt know this) up to a half million. It cost $211.
I have been struggling for a while between saving money for retirement and really enjoying life NOW, and the latter has won out. I really think SocSec and my 401 will be adequate -- I cant run around when I am 80. That said, I fly into Sydney and spend that first night at the Observatory and have asked in advance for a late checkout. I then fly out the next evening and return to Sydney for 4 days at the end of my trip. I am staying 2 nights at the Taj Blue and 2 nights at the Establishment. All three are 5-star hotels, which I am hoping means that the concierges will help you out on request. So far thats been true of the Establishment but not the Blue. (I've already started bugging them about show tickets to test the waters). I am staying at the Observatory because they have a swimming pool that is inside a planetarium. I am staying at the other two because they look different from any hotels I've seen before.
Draculas caberet is a dinner show in Melbourne that features a spooky ghost train ride into the restaurant. The whole experience is supposed to be excellent. I have basically sacrificed Melbourne to spend time in Sydney, Hobart and Cairns. However, if I can get from the airport to hotel in a short time, I should be able to spend about 3 hours at the Victoria Galleries before Draculas (very luckily the Galleries are open late the day I arrive.) Further I may actually be able to get a short walking tour the next morning before my plane to Hobart.

pS - which hotels did your travel agent propose?

I just saw in the US talk forum there is a whole dialog on "trip cancellation insurance" with several people listing websites to look at.

Hi-thanks for yur help. We are going for 27 nights, and that doesn't even seem like enough. Are staying at the Observatory in Sydney for 6 nights. Travel agent suggested Park Hyatt, but think it's over-priced. Don't really spend much time in the room on a trip like this.

Am about your age. Hopefully, we will be running around at 80, but cannot be as mobile then.

Am looking for interesting restaurants. Live near San Francisco,and go to a lot of highly rated places. Favorites always seem to be more low-key, less expensive places, rather than Zagat rated. Thanks for your input.Florence

Funny... my travel agent wanted to avoid the Park Hyatt. I ran it past her a couple of times because some of the Fodorites liked it. Certainly in the US, I've never been to a Hyatt that was worth the money, but they may be held to a higher standard in Australia. Anyway, for what its worth, I first became aware of the Observatory when it made the list of the "World's Most Luxurious Hotels," and I'm fairly certain that you won't regret your decision.